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Hello, I'm Sylvia Lovely along with Nancy May, co hosts
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of Family Tree Food and Stories.
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My now husband Bernie and I were both attending Morehead State University
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and in the early stages of dating.
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I was a sophomore and he was in graduate school and was working his way through
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with a part time job as radio host of What's Next for the local station.
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His stick was to interview people about places and people
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of interest in and around the small town of Moorhead, Kentucky,
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where the university was located.
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That could include just about anyone and anything.
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We were really into dating and getting to know one another when I
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noted that he was agitated one day.
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I don't have a guest for this week's show and I don't know what I'm
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going to do, he said in a panic.
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His plan had been to ask someone from the campus favorite local hamburger
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joint to come on and talk about the restaurant business in a small town.
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Since I was in the stage of romance of wanting to impress by coming
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to his rescue, I volunteered.
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I'll be your guest.
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He was certainly tempted, as he was desperate.
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I really need to do something with that restaurant, he replied.
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I think he was on the verge of accepting me no matter if I wanted
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to make up a story about aliens landing in the restaurant parking
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lot and enjoying a cheeseburger while planning how to invade Earth.
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I remember the confidence I felt for coming to his rescue.
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Here's my idea, I began.
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What I said broke every rule in the book for interview integrity.
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But you have to remember, neither of us were particularly sophisticated
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when it came to worldly matters.
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From families with little education and economic security, we were the raw
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turnips that had fallen off the truck.
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I will pretend to be a waitress at the burger joint.
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Which shall remain nameless, by the way.
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I went on.
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I'll give this some thought, talk to a couple of waitresses and chat about
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the trials and tribulations of serving.
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How hard can that be?
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I thought.
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Oh, I forgot to mention that the restaurant in question
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was also a show sponsor.
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The appointed day came and we did the interview and were pretty self satisfied.
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I can't remember if it was taped or live, but it doesn't matter
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in light of what came next.
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All I recall is that a brouhaha ensued and the restaurant threatened
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to end their support of the station and management was angry.
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Bernie and I were in a world of hurt.
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The fact that I had made up being a waitress was not the immediate issue,
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though it certainly could have been.
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Our ruse was never revealed.
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What mattered was that in the middle of the interview, Bernie asked if
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I could describe any challenges that a waitress might face.
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I proceeded to describe what might have appeared as a crisis if I was a waitress.
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Well, I began.
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One day during a shift, I spilled red jelly all over my apron.
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I couldn't take time to change and just served with a great big
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stain all down the front of me.
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Not only did I say that, but the way I emphasized stain made it even more
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prominent than it should have been.
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It was a painful aftermath for both of us.
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I was embarrassed, Bernie was left to apologize and possibly lose his job.
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The sponsor threw a fit, and at the end of the day though, the sponsor forgave.
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Bernie kept his job, and all went on.
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I never volunteered my services again, nor would they have been accepted.
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And he even married me in the end.
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But I could have qualified for an Academy Award.
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I think I did such a great job of acting it out.
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So, my point is, you see how much food is at the root of all our
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lives and our greatest stories.
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They are often stories that made us cringe when they happened, but are
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remembered with fondness and part of family lore as we grow and mature.
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They can likely bring belly laughs, as this one did.
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They remind us that we are whole beings.
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Mistakes, triumphs, all wadded up together.
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Look for your own food stories and share them with us.
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Nancy May, Sylvia Lovely, co hosts at Family Tree Food and Stories.
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We're putting together a family with food storytelling at its root.
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Join us and get in on all the fun.